merry and bright

I wish love and light to all of you, but especially to those who, like me, don't especially care for the holiday season. So to my kindred spirits I say hang in there; in a few days it will be behind us. In the meantime try to stay centered, and focus on what's important to YOU, and not what others may have you believe is important. Wrap yourself in a soft fuzzy blanket of kindness, and know that you are loved. Namaste!

my kinda sunday

My Sunday morning routine has been on hold for a couple of weeks due to the new wood flooring installation, which, I am happy to report, has been completed. So today I was able to fall back into my normal habit of having breakfast and lots of coffee while snuggled into my favorite chair for a couple of hours with the sunday paper. I also listed some new pendants in the shop, got a custom order of 5 pendants almost completed, and puttered around the house a bit. I took frequent breaks to snuggle with the cats, or get something to eat or drink, and of course I spent a fair amount of time on Etsy and reading Post Secret. I love these oh-so-rare days that I get to stay home in my pjs; no getting dressed, no makeup, no worries...mmmmmmmm. It felt good to take it easy after the disaster that was Friday, aka the holiday show. I don't want to give it enough thought to write about it, but I will tell you about a good thing that came from it....I met Shannon of Helicopter Studios! She was sitting at the table right beside me, and I overheard another vendor tell her they had seen her stuff on Etsy, so we began talking about our art and Etsy and everyting. It was truly the highlight of my day! Then on Saturday I went to a consignment shop I recently discovered and out front they had a large bench full of books for FREE! I got so many I could barely make it to the car without stopping to rest. One of them is that big beauty in the picture...a humongous dictionary! It was published in 1966, so we are the same age! And it has all kinds of lists and info, even german, spanish and french translation! It's about 5 inches thick, and is easily my favorite find to date. Yea, I'm a total geek!

sharing song

This song by Anna Nalick helps me remember that all I truly have to do from one moment to the next is breathe...helps me keep it real on a lot of levels. Check out LK Ludwig's blog to get all the details on the song sharing.

Thanks and giving

I want to help spread the word about an opportunity to give just a little and make a huge difference. Please hop over to Kelly Rae Roberts' blog and read about the family in need of assistance, and find the donation link at the bottom of her post. Kelly Rae is giving away a piece of artwork to one lucky donor too, so there's even more incentive for ya! What a truly wonderful way, on so many levels, to start the Thanksgiving holiday!
Warm wishes to you and yours...xxo

how time flies

The weeks and months are whirling by at an unbelievable pace for me...does it feel like that to you too? It seemed the election would never get here, and now it's done and over with (and I am extremely happy with our president-elect!). Those holidays I could do without are just around the corner but at least I have some travel to look forward to so it wont be so bad. Some of my fellow book group members are calling me "bah-humbug" because I refuse to read a Christmas book this year. I did it last year just because it was short and someone offered to let me borrow theirs and I was trying to be nice, but I didn't enjoy it and will not be participating this year. I know there are others out there like me, who do not enjoy the holidays and don't see what all the fuss is about. Well we need to stick together, so if you feel the same way I do about the holidays email me or leave a comment, and while you're at it click on the new button over on the left and follow my blog! I know I don't have many readers, but I love this new feature and wanted to try it out and see if anyone signs up. You can sign up anonymously too, though that wouldn't be as fun, and if you have a blog of your own it's a good way to get more traffic for you too, because others who visit here may just click to see who my "followers" are. And if you want to add this feature to your blog, I'll follow you if you'll follow me, how's that?




I've been hard at work making holiday pendants for both brick & mortar shops, my Etsy shop, and a show I have coming up on 12/5. I love vintage nudes and wanted to do some very un-traditional pendants, so that's how these cuties came to be. I also did some other holiday stuff, because not everyone wants to wear an extra set of boobs...hehehe.

Next weekend I'll be seeing The Transiberian Orchestra (for the 4th time--LOVE them!) and JT is beginning the installation of our new hardwood floors, so as usual, never a dull moment. I would love to hear what YOU have going on!

It's only Saturday night but it's already been a super-fun weekend. I'm alone this weekend since JT went on an unplanned-for fishing trip with the guys, but that's ok because me and solitude are good friends. Last night I left from work and went straight to a thrift store where, much to my delight, it was 50% off day. There is nothing more fun to me than finding treasures and getting them cheaply, so today I hit another store and came home with another big bag full...among the things I scored are a skirt, a pair of cropped pants, a book written in what I think is Chinese (oh the backgrounds to be made with this beauty!!), and 3 old wooden cigar boxes. On my way to the thrift store Friday afternoon I got a frantic call from the owner of one of the shops (Eclectic by Nature) that sells my pendants, saying she had sold all the witch hat pendants but one and would love to have some more ASAP. So I obliged and delivered them today. I am so thrilled that people like them...I just can't put into words the feeling I get when others like my work. And speaking of the pendants, they are also now being sold in a local gallery, The Fat Cat, Ltd. The next two pics show what I delivered there earlier this week, along with a couple of witch hats.
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Now I am off to clean up the studio a bit....I am in a funky-clothes-altering mood and I have to clean up in order to get to that tub of fabric in the corner...

Venn Diagrams

There’s a part of me that’s a total geek. I know those of you who know me and think I’m all (cough cough) coolness and style will find that hard to believe, but it’s true. I was thumbing through one of my old thrift store books last night…a geometry textbook from 1969 to be exact…looking for cool pages to paint & collage on, when a particular diagram leaped off the page at me. It was a Venn diagram, with a little “x” and a little “u”, with the u being the square representing the whole and the x being a circle, a part of the whole, and automatically I knew the x would become the x in coexist, and that u = the universe, and this diagram is just a model of all us humans living in the universe…well, the ones on this planet anyway, but I don’t want to go off on that tangent right now. I mean, that big square in this diagram that represents the Universe could have been filled with all sorts of circles showing different types of humans, but they all would still intersect with the square, the Universe, and some may intersect with each other…those circles in the big square could be made up of Blacks, Whites, Orientals, Hispanics, gays, trannies, whores, saints, jesus freaks, tattooed people, biker chics, nuns, artists, lawyers, trailer trash, presidents, millionaires, democrats, republicans…you get the point…but they are all part of the square, no matter what circle they happen to be in. They are all part of the divine Universe, and they are all part of each other! So I had to make a pendant out of this little diagram. It’s plain and simple-looking, but that’s the beauty of it. The simplicity represents, to me, the simple concept of coexisting. You don’t have to agree with those that are different from you. You don’t have to like them or approve of them either. But they deserve the same rights and privileges and respect that you deserve. They are part of the divine just like you are. We are all in that square.

hello 42

At what point in your life do you start to feel like a grown-up? I ask because I have never quite felt like one. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations about being “grown up”. Maybe it’s because I still have the sense of wonder over the world around me most often found in children. Whatever the reason, it’s ok…I don’t mind not feeling like a grown-up. I have always had a thirst for learning and experiencing and stretching my mind, and I love that about myself. Hey, maybe that’s a sign of being grown-up, being able to love and accept myself exactly the way I am this very minute. And I do! And trusting myself, that’s surely a sign of adulthood isn’t it? I think so! And being able to speak my truth, and stand up for myself…those have to count too, even though I still need more practice in the standing-up-for-myself department. But I’m getting there. Wow, guess I feel grown-up after all! Even with all the aches and pains and body changes, I wouldn’t trade this time in my life for anything. I’ve heard many wise women say that their 40s were great and their 50s even better, and though I’m only at the tip of that iceberg, I understand…I get it. So tomorrow I'll say hello to 42, and welcome it with open arms and a big wet kiss. I look forward to more learning, more creativity, more love, more…LIFE.
The book pictured above was my birthday gift to myself. I haven't read very much of it yet, but already I've been brought to tears because it's like Kelly Rae has looked into my soul and wrote what she saw. If you are thinking about getting it, you will not be disappointed. I plan on reading excerpts at the GIRL party...

3-day weekend

I hope you had a long weekend like I did, and I hope it was fabulous! Check out Kelly Rae's blog and see my little icon over on the right....her book was released last week and I will be ordering it Thursday....have to wait till after book group to see what other book I need to order.....been busy as a bee making new pendants...

the wheels are turning.....

Here is a logo I just finished...I needed one to place on a certain very popular blog next week.....!!!!!!

what a difference a day makes

Did you ever have words inside you that had to get out? i mean HAD TO GET OUT? I was just in the midst of finishing up this pendant, thinking about this amazing day, listening to my just-arrived-from-Amazon Anna Nalick cd, which I highly recommend, by the way, when I had to stop soldering and start writing. For quite a while now I've been paying close attention to my intuition, higher self, subconscious mind...whatever word you choose to use...and today it's telling me, screaming at me, to pay attention, remember this day and the events that occurred to cause the moments in time to come together just as they did. I wont go into details, but an over-crowded chiropractic office, my decision to not sit and wait, but to come home for a while instead, and go back later....how 5 minutes made all the difference in the world, though I still don't understand exactly what kind of difference, but I know it did...all the little parts that made up the whole of this afternoon is nothing short of amazing. Most of this may not make a lot of sense, but if you've every had this kind of synchronicity happen to you, you know exactly what I mean...I guess more than anything I wanted to write this so that I will have a record of this day, the day i met my new neighbors, the day i made a new friend...

rainy days and cats

…

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs
should relax and get used to the idea.
- Robert A. Heinlein

It’s a cloudy rainy day here in my neck o’North Carolina today, and I LOVE IT. I will choose rain and clouds over blue sky and sunshine any day. I would love to live in an area that gets rain more days of the year than not, but that isn’t very good weather for golfing, so the husband wont consider it. So I enjoy it when I am able to. I don’t know why I love it so….maybe because the trees and everything in nature look so different in the rain. Buildings, houses look different. Even people look different….scurrying to get in the door, in the car….no standing around outside doors or sitting on benches on rainy days. No perky fitness walkers trotting up and down the sidewalk outside my office during lunchtime…no sireeee. I’ve had friends I haven’t heard from in ages call me up on rainy days to say they were reminded of me, knowing how much I love the rain. I like that…another reason to like the rain…who knows, maybe now you will think of me when it rains too

original since 1966

Last night I dreamed of several old friends, most of whom I haven’t been in touch with for years. In my dream they all came to visit me as a group, but in reality they don’t know each other, some of them even live in different states. Some were doing well, some were not, and some were going through the same ole shit. I’ve never been good at dissecting my dreams and figuring out what my higher/inner self is trying to communicate through them, but I do believe dreams are a big part of ourselves, and that we would learn a lot if we paid more attention to them, so I try to do that. It has definitely been a week in which friends have been at the center of my life, which isn’t always the case with me since I tend to be a more solitary soul. And just last evening was my monthly book group meeting. I so enjoy those ladies and their humor & wisdom…I love the feeling I’m left with by just being in the company of other women…it’s a feeling hard to explain, but I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean…most every month I leave them carrying this collective energy with me, and I deeply appreciate it. So I know my dream about friends was for a reason, had some sort of message for me….maybe that I need to make more time for friends…that I need to be more social, even when it’s my nature not to be? I’m sure I’ll keep mulling it over, because that is also my nature, so maybe more insight will come later. Meanwhile I’m off to order the next book, but I do highly recommend the book I just finished, The Devil in the White City …..a truly amazing read….check it out.

Oh, and that pendant is about to be listed in the shop....it is a custom order with your year, your colors, in your choice of chunky square or chunky round...or plain square glass, or 1.5" beveled square glass...how's that for choices? If you want one, email me or leave a comment if you don't want to visit the shop...$18 plus $2.50 shipping...Paypal only. Happy Friday tomorrow!!

macro puss

This little cutie keeps watch over me while I'm soldering and making a mess at my art table.....

anyway...today I have been surrounded by funny smart beautiful goddesses both in real life and virtual life. I had the most fun night out with the girls I've had in ages...thanks Carmella and Tina!!

And I am thrilled beyond words to be a part of this new web space that suzi blu put together! Over to the left, underneath my Etsy shop announcement, is a link to this place I am talking about...you must check it out! I've never been too into those "social" websites, and haveing long lists of friends, etc., but these are all fellow art goddessess, my people for god's sake!! I am loving it and can't wait to learn more about these women, and share with them, and create with them...it's f#@kin' fabulous!

Oh, and I added a couple of pendants to the shop just a minute ago....

I've looked forward to this day....

...when I can say "New items have just been uploaded into MY ETSY SHOP!!!!
www.moltenadornment.etsy.com

My Soldered Pendants

a poem and a plea

First, the plea....see the badge over to the left with the cute poochie on it? It is for A Place to Bark...an incredible organization that saves animals, and they are in a competition to win some much-needed money. You can find out more about that by clicking on the links in the box, but what it amounts to is if they finish the competition in one of the top 4 places, they get an additional donation of $50K!! The minimum amount you can donate is $10, but the contest counts the number of donations, NOT the amount of money raised, so please wont you give $10?? Pretty please with sugar on top?? And now the poem...what can I say... inspiration hit, ya know?

Bold-Faced Type

I can’t keep the smile from
forming when I click the icon
and it’s sitting there, a few messages
from the top. Seemingly unread to
the casual observer but thanks to preview
mode I know every word you wrote.
It matters not that it was sent hours ago
or that a little voice inside my head whispers
“how silly you are”. The joy emanating
from my heart when I see it – traveling
through me like really good hot chocolate
on a cold day - that’s what matters.
Feeling connected to you in some small
way is what matters. All this from
your name staring boldly back at me
from my inbox.